Localmind’s location-based Q and A lets you answer with photos, show off your knowledge

When you’re out and about, many of us check in using the app of our choice. But why? For a mayorship? Possible special deal? Maybe we do it just to tell our friends where we are in case they want to meet up. Regardless of your reason, Localmind has added an important layer to the check-in by providing a Q&A platform on top of any of them.

The service has been around for some time (we wrote about Localmind’s launch in March of this year) and it has been gaining traction with a recent Android release. While some might argue that Localmind could be replaced by the tips that you could give inside of the location apps themselves, there’s a huge importance in having current, to-the-minute information about where you are or where you might be going.

Let’s put this into perspective – Instead of wondering how crowded your favorite watering hole is, just ask on Localmind. Not sure if an event is happening as planned? Your Localmind contacts can tell you. But with version 1.5 (released today for iOS) there are even more options.

Answer questions with a photo – Show what’s happening instead of just saying it.

Reply to answers – Disagree with something? Have a better thought? Now you can add your own answer.

Show your face – Build your personal reputation by forgoing anonymity. You can show who you are when you answer a question.

Note that these are all options. Instead of being mandatory, each of these requires you to do something other than just answer a question. As such, it’s not a change to how the already-successful service works but rather it’s just a welcome feature addition.

What’s more important, perhaps, is what Localmind is building from its users. As CEO Lenny Rachitsky puts it, “we are building an implicit network of expertise, built on top of users’ natural checkin behaviors.” To put it another way, you’re showing your expertise on a subject simply by checking in and sharing your information.

This is a pretty huge advantage for Localmind over other Q&A services. That ability to have proven expertise, instead of just saying “oh hey, I’m an expert when it comes to the subject of Italian cuisine” Localmind can show other users who has given copious amounts of advice on a subject or location.

This overlay of Q&A to check-in services has been sorely missing since we all started telling our friends “I am here”. Combine that with a growing repository of who knows what and you have all of the ingredients for a powerful service to draw even more users. Want to check it out yourself? Just grab it for iOS or for Android and let us know your thoughts.

This post is part of our contributor series. The views expressed are the author's own and not necessarily shared by TNW.